Fast-Food Workers Protest Pay, Aim to Unionize

A protester holds a sign outside McDonald’s in Times Square on Thursday in support of employees on strike at various fast-food chains in New York City.

Dozens of fast-food-chain workers gathered outside of McDonald's, Burger King and other restaurants in New York City on Thursday, protesting for higher pay and the right to form a union.

Mobilized by New York Communities for Change, an organization that previously helped unionize car wash and supermarket employees in the area, cashiers and cooks came together in hopes of roughly doubling their pay to $15 an hour.

Strikes were scheduled at various restaurants around the city all day, culminating with a 4 p.m. rally at the McDonald’s in Time Square. Organizers said the first demonstration, at a McDonald’s near Grand Central Station at 6 a.m., included 14 of the 17 employees scheduled to work that shift.

“McDonald’s values our employees and has consistently remained committed to them, so in turn they can provide quality service to our customers,” a spokeswoman for McDonald’s said in a statement.

However, like most fast-food chains, McDonald’s restaurants are primarily owned and operated by franchisees, leaving the corporate office out of the labor decisions. The company spokeswoman described pay and benefits as “competitive within the quick-service restaurant industry.”

Fast-food chains are already struggling to boost profitability, as low consumer confidence and high food costs are weighing in on their earnings. In October, McDonald’s same-store sales, a key indicator of restaurant success, declined for the first time in nearly a decade.

Representatives from Burger King and Yum Brands — which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut — were not immediately available to comment on their workers’ decision to protest.

One of the city’s largest restaurant-management companies, Riese Organization,
owns about 75 restaurants in the metropolitan area, including KFC, Taco Bell and
other fast-food chains.

Pamela Waldrom, a 26-year-old mother of two young children, works at Riese’s KFC restaurant in Penn Station. She said she has been working there for eight years, and that her $7.75-an-hour pay is barely enough to justify the hour-and-a-half commute from Brooklyn’s Flatbush section.

“I am going to school and supporting my kids. I can’t cover half of my expenses with this pay,” Waldrom said. “It just feels good to be out here and know that there are other people in the same position as me, and we can fight for change together.”

Jonathan Westin, organizing director for New York Communities for Change, said the success working with grocery store and car wash employees encouraged the group to take on the fast-food giants.

“We found that the biggest industry of low-wage work in the city is fast food,” he said. “The fast-food industry has been seen for so long as teenagers working after-school jobs, but that isn’t the case anymore, especially after the recession.”

On the other hand, the National Restaurant Association sided with its member
chains, saying “the New York City restaurant industry is to be commended for providing jobs through a sluggish economy.”

“The industry, including quick service restaurants, is one of the best paths
to achieving the American dream and has provided opportunities for millions of
Americans,” said Scott DeFife, executive vice president of Policy & Government
Affairs for the National Restaurant Association, in a statement.